Today marks 67 years since the tragic Munich Air Disaster, where a slush-covered runway caused the death of eight Manchester United players.
The air crash took the lives of 23 people that also included 15 other United employees, journalists, cabin crew and friends of Matt Busby.
In amongst the players that tragically died, were Eddie Colman and Geoff Bent who were born in Salford, two players that would be memorialised in within the local community after the tragedy.
February 6 1958, 44 people, most of which included the Manchester United football team, the ‘Busby Babes’, and associates boarded British European Airways Flight 609, before refuelling at Munich-Riem airport in Germany.
The team were returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia).
After take-off from Munich back to Manchester was cleared, pilots James Thain and Kenneth Rayment attempted two failed departures, before a third threw up slush and caused the plane to skid to the end of the runway.
Crashing into a fence, and across a road, the plane’s port wing was torn off by a house, which promptly caught fire.
Its tail was caught on a tree; and the right side of the fuselage hit a wooden hut, inside which was a truck filled with tyres and fuel, which exploded.
The crash took the lives of 23 people, including players Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Billy Whelan.
After the tragic disaster only 21 people survived including Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Matt Busby.
67 years on from the disaster, a 79-year-old Manchester United fan, David Warner shared his memories from the day.
David who was 13 years old at the time, growing up in Gorton, remembered finding out about the incident, he said: “I remember a lad at our school telling us about the disaster.
“We didn’t think much of it at the time because he was one of the lads who always made things up.
“I did think it was a strange thing to say, and I honestly didn’t believe him at the time.”
“When I found out what happened, it was unbelievable, and you were questioning everything that led to the incident. Everyone across the city was devastated.
“There was a rivalry between the two clubs, but all of that stopped.”
And it was a difficult time for all those involved, as David remembered going to the first fixture on 19 February 1958, Manchester United played the club’s first match following the Munich Air Disaster.
David said: “It was an awful journey to the game, as we didn’t know what was going to happen. It was very sad, as the match was still going ahead.
“I remember buying the programme before the game as I always did, and I remember the centre-fold of it being completely blank for the United team.
“They weren’t sure of who would be playing, but the atmosphere that day was different – it was a massive crowd that day.”
The disaster on February 6 1958, will forever be a day in football and history that will be remembered for the tragic events that unfolded.
And David continued to recollect the memories of watching the ‘Busby babes’ play, including Salford-born Eddie Colman and Geoff Bent.
He added: “I had grown up watching them as they came through the mid-50’s, and we watched all these impressive youngsters. I watched Duncan Edwards, and Eddie Colman come through.”
Both players were 21-years-old at the time of the crash, with Geoff Bent from Irlams o’ th’ Height dying at the age of 25-years old.
“Everyone was local at the time, but it was a very sad, sad day for football – but when you were there it is very hard to know how significant that day would be on the history of the club.”
Tributes to the 44 people who died in the tragic disaster will continue throughout the day, and forever will be remembered as a moment that silenced football.
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